Set Points: Australian Open 2016, Day 1

I was hoping to do a comprehensive summary feature for every day at the Australian Open but i’ve realised this is just going to be too much for me to cover… so instead of Match Points, here’s Set Points! In a snappier feature, this will be ten things that resonated with me, be it, a great match, an interview, a GIF, a random thought or anything really that caught my attention. Much like the first day of the 2015 Australian Open, we witnessed decimation of the seeds with seven of them falling on day 1. I set my alarm for 4.30am this morning but my body clock is naturally tuned to tennis as I woke up at 3.30am hahaha! One day in and i’m already a wreck and falling asleep at my desk… #sleepisfortheweak but I AM WEAK!

The birth of Yulia Putintseva, aka Poots, as a Slam giant killer was probably the talking point of the day. In beating Wozniacki, 1-6 7-6(3) 6-4, we saw some typically animated celebrations.

This was a rough loss for Woz who has looked exceptionally unclutch of late, highlighting what appears to be a lack of confidence. Wozniacki wasn’t the only seed in her section to lose with Sara Errani and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova falling to talented Russians, Margarita Gasparyan and Daria Kasatkina in three setters respectively.

When I checked the scores this morning, all I wanted to know was whether Petra and Serena had made it through… and they did! By all accounts, Serena was impressive against Camila Giorgi and I will watch the match tonight. As ever, it’s awesome to have Jimmie’s photos to admire.

Winning first round matches at the Grand Slams can be really special… I remember some of my favourite live matches have been on the outside courts at Wimbledon. Maria Sakkari’s three set win against Yafan Wang generated an emotive celebration…

There were a couple of rollercoaster scorelines… Jelena Ostapenko ended up losing to Su-Wei Hsieh, 6-3 5-7 1-6, from a seemingly unassailable position, while Sloane Stephens couldn’t take her chances, going out in one of the shock results of the first day.

Ostapenko led 4-0 in the second set, served for the match at 6-3, 5-4. It's now *5-6. Meltdown incoming? Tune in, kids.

I thought Kuznetsova’s stats in the Sydney final against Monica Puig (25 winners to 4 unforced errors) were incredible but she only went and did it again with another superb performance, flying past Daniela Hantuchova, 6-0 6-2.

That poots, she’s a rabid Cibulkova. Caroline just couldn’t shake her off in the 3rd. Talk about latching on.

Wozniacki was bummed but surely Sloane Stephens must be quietly reeking inside. Most draws have been top heavy with Serena, so a change is always welcome. This should energise Caroline for her fave USopen run. Hopefully she plays a bit more aggressively then.